Source: Xinhua
04-08-2009 21:47
Special Report: Tech MaxBEIJING, April 8 (Xinhuanet) -- In terms of losing weight, a new research shows that cutting back on sugar-laden drinks seems to have a bigger impact than cutting back on solid foods, according to April's edition of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
"Consumption of liquid calories from beverages has increased in parallel with the obesity epidemic in the U.S. population," Dr. Benjamin Caballero of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and colleagues point out in the journal.
"Our study supports policy recommendations and public health efforts to reduce intakes of liquid calories, particularly from sugar-sweetened beverages, in the general population," they added.
The researchers examined 810 adults who participated in a behavior intervention study on how changes in beverage consumption over 18 months affected their weight.
The researchers divided beverages into seven categories based on calorie content and nutritional composition: sugar-sweetened beverages (regular soft drinks, fruit drinks, fruit punch, or high-calorie beverages sweetened with sugar); diet drinks (diet soda and other "diet" drinks sweetened with artificial sweeteners); milk (whole milk, 2 percent reduced-fat milk, 1 percent low-fat milk, and skim milk); 100 percent juice (100 percent fruit and vegetable juice); coffee and tea with sugar; coffee and tea without sugar; and alcoholic beverages.
